Life Care renovating Collegedale facility

Life Care renovating Collegedale facility

Life Care Center of Collegedale is undergoing a multimillion-dollar expansion and renovation that officials said will give the facility a new feel and a home-like appearance.

"The expansion and upgrades to the physical plant of Life Care Center of Collegedale are further evidence to our commitment of placing residents as our highest priority," said Beecher Hunter, president of Life Care Centers of America, which is headquartered in Cleveland, Tenn.

Carla Youngberg, executive director of the Collegedale facility, said the project began in April and is expected to take about a year and a half to complete.

"Our facility is 30 years old and it is in need of some upgrades," she said. "The whole facility will look brand new when it is completed."

Workers are adding a new 14,500-square-foot wing to the residential nursing facility which will bring the total size to 57,584 square feet, Ms. Youngberg said.

There are 124 beds in the facility, which will not change after the construction is complete.

Ms. Youngberg said the new wing will include some semiprivate rooms, but some of the existing rooms will go from semiprivate to private.

"It will remain 124 beds," she said. "We're just increasing on one side and decreasing on another."

The portico entrance and the lobby were redesigned about a year ago. The remaining facility will be updated to match.

Officials at Life Care Centers of America headquarters declined to release the price tag for the expansion, except to call it a multimillion-dollar job.

"Carla Youngberg and her staff continually provide excellent quality of clinical care and service to our residents, but the environment is very important, too," Mr. Hunter said. "The facility must be very functional for patient care, but it also must offer a pleasant, homelike environment, because this is home to those we serve."

The new wing will include a nurse's station, sunroom, patio and a beauty salon. It also will have an ice cream parlor and a coffee shop as well as an enlarged dining and dietary area.

"We are excited for our residents to have a more homelike area to live in," Ms. Youngberg said. "We are really excited about our updated rehab area."

She said that area will be given its own entrance and allow for better access for outpatient treatment.

Mr. Hunter agreed.

"We have an outstanding staff, but by expanding and updating our space, it will give it a more homelike and updated feel to the facility," he said.